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Burgundy France

So I am off to Burgundy tomorrow to partake in the celebrations surrounding Hospice de Beaune in Burgundy, France, quite possibly the longest running wine auction in the history of the world. Funds raised are used to support the hospital (known as the Hôtel-Dieu) which received its first patient on 1st January 1452. In the last sixty years, however, the level of bidding is seen as an indicator of the prices growers and negociants can get for their wine.

To get more more insight into the region, I set up a Q/A with Peter Wasserman, who is listed as being the consultant and traveling evangelist at Becky Wasserman Selections, a Burgundy specialist importer.

peter wasserman

Q: Peter, what conditions make up for a perfect vintage?

A: How do you define a perfect vintage? It depends what you are looking for in a wine. To me, a classic vintage is better than big vintage with big fruit which seems to be admired by the press. Long term vintages don't show selves in youth. Both styles are valid and have different audiences and different uses.

In a vintage in the style of 05 you need good light and sun over a sustained period from June – September with just the right amount of rain and no hail. Rain brings humid conditions and can bring on odium and mildew. Ideally you should have sunny bright weather from budbreak to harvest. An old saying says “June makes the harvest, August makes the vintage." This means a good period in June will promote a healthy abundant vintage, but August will determine quality of the wine because it is the last part of growth season.”

Q: Is there an easy way to blind taste and guess the nature of a Grand Cru vs. a Premier Cru?

A: Grand Cru has a layered mid-palate, good length, and a certain sense of power. Grand Cru does not show self until tenth year. You can not judge a Grand Cru on the basis of a front palate, fruit forward expression. It is up and down from one day to the next, at different points in time. They key thing is a Grand Cru is more substantial and has more complexity of flavors and tannin on mid palate, more potential. Grand Cru should be double in length of a Premier and triple or quadruple of a village level wine.

Q: How much, if anything, could be done to hedge against bad weather, etc.

A: In a difficult vintage there is a lot of work in the vineyard. The appropriate use of biodynamic teas or chemicals - applied at right time - can stop the spread of odium and mildew. However, nothing can be done if hail strikes. Beyond destroying the vintage, it attacks the wood, affecting subsequent vintages. Lack of sunlight can prevent photosynthesis and nothing can be done technologically.

A difficult vintage can be helped in the winery such as a pre-fermentation soak, a cold soak, a post-fermentation warm soak, and reverse osmosis to get good concentration and make a decent technical wine. There will be little signature of the vineyard and the wine will not be the greatest.

Ending note from Marisa

On a more comic note, when I asked how to get the most out of the Fete des Grands vins de Bourgogne (the village tasting party) he said “hang out with Robert Bohr.” Bohr is the sommelier at Cru, notable for its two-volume wine list, and Bohr has great connections with collectors. Apparently, when Bohr is around the “good stuff” gets opened.

Thank you Peter, and to all the fans of AWineStory.com, I will try to post a lot of pictures and video over the festivities this weekend!

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